SS LP Grade 4 Lesson Title: Mound Builder Archaeological Dig Grade Level: 4

Lesson Objectives Students will: -Understand archaeology and use its principles to discover information on the mound builders - Use the clues found in the dig boxes to fill out a chart on the different types of mound builders Ohio Standards, Benchmarks, and Grade Level Indicators People in Societies:

1. Describe the cultural practices and products of various groups who have settled in Ohio over time: The Paleo Indians, Archaic Indians, Woodland Indians (Adena and Hopewell) and Late Prehistoric Indians (Fort Ancient);

Materials, Technology, and Resources - Mound builders handout (attached) -6 cardboard legal boxes - Glue -Construction paper -markers -scissors - 4 baby pumpkins - 4 plastic sunflowers - 4 pieces of Indian corn - 2 Strings of beads -2 sea shells - 6 blank Ohio maps - Pictures of arrow heads -Date cards -Pictures of the houses plus descriptions of what they were made of -lots of fact cards - pictures of Hopewell art and other artifacts printed and mounted on hard paper - Pictures of the most famous mounds for each tribe Lesson Procedures (Launch, Lesson Core, Closure)

Katie Grindley Fall 2010

SS LP Grade 4 Context: The last lesson on Prehistoric Indians, the first on Mound Builders Allotted Time: 40 minutes 1. Make 6 boxes (2 for each tribe) and fill them with artifacts that help the students fill out their chart. 2. Attach labels to the artifacts to give students extra help on where they go. For example, Attached to a bone fishhook attach The fort ancient people used bone fishhooks to catch fish. This will show them that fish can be added to food as well as to interesting facts. 3. Label the boxes For archaeologists eyes only; Found at the ____________ dig site 4. Put all the handouts in a small box that looks like it has been shipped with the message Archaeologists; These are the handouts that youll need to fill out using the artifacts found in the dig site boxes. It is your job to help us understand the lives of the Adena, Hopewell, and Fort Ancient people. 5. On the day of the lesson stack all the boxes somewhere in the room where students will see them 6. Start the lesson by reminding students what an archaeologist is and telling them that they will be archaeologists today. 7. Ask students to remind me what it means when something is prehistoric (something theyve learned all week.) Before history was written down, you must figure it out through artifacts. 8. Show them a picture of the Serpent Mound. Ask if anyone knows anything about it. 9. When no one knows, give a brief description about the mound builder people as a whole and tell them that as archaeologists, they will be finding out even more information. 10. Remind students that archaeologists are always careful with artifacts and that they should never have loud voices so they can discuss the meaning of each artifact. 11. Split students into groups of 4 or 5. There should be 6 groups. 12. Read the directions on the handout and go through each item that they will be looking for, giving them an example of at least one. 13. Discuss the strategies of a good team of archaeologists. 1) pull out one object at a time 2) discuss what the artifact is as a group and where it should go on the handout 3) record the artifact 4) someone else in the group pulls an artifact 14. Put one artifact box on each groups table. Tell them not to open it until you say go. 15. Have them inspect the box to see what dig site it came from 16. Tell the groups that the archaeologists may open their boxes and begin. 17. Walk around and help students during this round. If you notice the

Katie Grindley Fall 2010

SS LP Grade 4 groups are struggling, give them trips on more successful team work. 18. After 10 minutes have the students finish up and repack their boxes. 19. Rotate the boxes so each group gets a different mound builder group 20. repeat 15- 18 21. Rotate the boxes one last time and repeat 15-17 22. take the boxes away and have students look at their handout 23. Describe the functions of the actual mounds. 24. Go over handout by having students raise their hands and answer or come draw on the board. 25. Add any interesting facts about the information. Ask students for predictions about how they knew certain things. 26. Ask for any questions 27. Have students turn papers in. Student Summative Assessment (for the unit/chapter assessment) Work sheets will be graded on completion 5 points A unit test will be given over some of the information covered.

Key Concepts

Archaeology Mound builders Prehistoric Artifacts Attachments

Mound Builder Worksheet

Katie Grindley Fall 2010

SS LP Grade 4

Reflection: This lesson is by far the best lesson Ive ever created or taught. The students loved acting as archaeologists and beign in control of their own learning. It was awesome seeing them dig through the boxes and figure out what artifact went where. The also really ran with the concept of being archaeologists, they inspected each artifact carefully and had great discussions about where it could have been found. There were a few things that I would change if I did this lesson again. One, some groups got done with boxes earlier than others. I wish I had contructed some sort extra activity that groups could work on once they were done. Also, I would love to do a variation of the lesson where students actually dig the artifacts up. I could fill the boxes with packing peanuts and have them dig through to find all the clues. The only problem is that some of my IEP kids may have found that too destracting or time consuming. One of the proudest moments I had in the lesson was hearing all the kids say how cool this was and then discuss how they were going home to find out even more information on the mounds. Also, I was incredibly proud that most of my IEP students were able to keep up because they could copy the words off the cards so they didnt struggle and fall behind, in fact a few of them were leading the dig! This is deffinatley a lesson I would try again, or maybe try in different ways for other units. It was fun for me and for the students and since it was curiosity driven, I didnt struggle keeping the kids on task . Katie Grindley Fall 2010